Method of forming metal bodies



Oct: 28, 1930. R. A. LEWIS ET AL 1,779,607

METHOD OF FORMING METAL BODIES Filed April 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 f ,3 I I Z 2, I I y. I I. 1'

|NvE NToRS Oct. 28, 1930. R. A. LEwl ET AL 1,779,607

I METHOD OF FORMING METAL BODIES I Filed April ll, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 5v J0 .416 06492212. -fi4. I ATTORNEY R. A. LEWIS in AL METHOD OF FORMING METAL'BODIES Filed April 11, 1'92? 4 Sheets-Sheet s h m/11.; zwwzz fiJ.

ATTORN Oct. 28, 1930. R.- A. LEWIS El A'L 1,779,607

METHOD OF FORMING METAL BODIES Filed April 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEINTORS' I 1Z A Lea Z25- 28 BY J0 M S Patented Oct; 28, 19,130

UNITED STATES PATENT or'rics 1 ROY A. LEWIS AND JOHN M. YLVESTER, F BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY METHOD OF FORMING METAL BODIES Application filed April 11,

Q, or of complicated form, the material of v i which it is impossible of the various apparatus used have distinct limitations which impose definite limits to which is to have the characteristics of worked metal. v

In the ordinary methods of shaping metals, whether by casting or by mechanical work'- ing the difliculties increase both with size and with complexity of form. ingly ingenious devices have been devised for solving the problem by casting, where intricacy of form only is involved, but such expedients are obviously very expensive. Moreover, as is well known, castpmetal does not have the advantageous qualities possessed by bodies which have been subjected to mechanical working, whether it be forging, rolling, pressing, or any other equivalent kneading-like operation.

When it comes to the problem of great size, the difficulties are still harder to overcome. In fact, there are distinct limits to practice as it is conducged at present beyond 0 go. The capacities s thesize of bodies which can be cast. For example, cranes, open hearth furnaces pits, ingot moulds, 'etc., in ordinary practice are of certain capacities which cannot be easily exceeded. Even if certain of these devices could be made of greater size-or capacity, such 9 worked metal. In addition -it'-is desirable changes in practice would be decidedly costly, and the'utility tobe derived from such innovations would be problematical.

As casting is an essential step in the preparation of any large object, even thou h later on the cast material is to be worked, t e handicap in'the manufacture of exceedingly large objects is readily apparent.

As an example of what is now bein in the way of making large objects of steel, and the obstacles in the'way of increasing the size thereof, consider the following: It is very desirable to makevery large tublar vessels to be 'used in certain chemical and physical op- 'erations, as, .for example, distilling. Such bodies must be capable of resisting great stresses and accordingly should be made of of 250 tons is cast; this is' pierced Many exceed J I done 1927. Serial No. 182,881.

that there be very few joints, it being preferable thatthe object be one-piece if possible. Vessels of this sort have been made weighing 125 tons. To make one of this size, an ingot and enlarged by working on presses, and then forged, while hot, to a length of from to feet.

Making bodies of this great weight, or those of a considerably lesser weight even, is an extremely arduous undertaking; the equipment is cumbersome and expensive; it is subjected to great strain and wear; and the labor costs are high. 7 i u To go substantially higher in weight, under present practice, is nearly impossible. Yet science and the arts demand tubular or other shaped bodies of a much greater size,- even multiples of the present maximum weight, which are wholly outside the means of present equipment. The primary purpose of our invention is to solve these difficulties, whether due to size or complexity ofform, and to secure objects which have the desirable characteristics of'worked metal.-

We attain this end'by casting the metal which is to enter the object in several ingots, instead of inone as at present, next working the ingots to partially reduce and shape them, then positioning these worked body elements adjacent each other and joining them by cast-- ing material of approximately the same coming, by the device. of making several, distinct' castings, each to contain but-a fractign of the total metal to be in the finished body. Moreover, since the entire blank is worked the resulting body possesses the characteristics of worked metal throughout. By this 'method, the joints between the separate body elements are practically or completely elim vinated, the cast material of the joints acquiring the same general physical characteristics as the remainder ofthe body. a

Of course, the broad idea is not new with us of joining one piece of metal to another piece of metalby'a casting operation, and working the resulting body. This is old in the well known composite metal art where one metal is joined to a different metal by casting or-some other operation and the resulting composite metal forged or rolled to obtain a body having certain of the advantageous characteristics of both metals. It .is also old to'weld one element to another and to hammer the joint. But, so far as we know, the prior art does not disclose the formation of an extremely lar e or intricate body by building up such a bo y by means of separate elements thereof, joining them' an then so working as to make a ractically one-piece, uniform body having t e characteristics of worked metal throughout.

Accordingly, our. invention broadly consists in forming several body elements, positioning these elements adjacent to each other, joining them and then working to finisheddimensions so that the material thereof is worked throughout. More specifically, it consists in preparing a plurality of ingots of approximately the same composition, pos1- tioning them adjacent each other, casting metal of approximately the same composition between ad acent ortions thereof and then mechanically wor g the resulting blank so that the material of the joints between the original body elements is brought to substantially the same state as that in the remainder of the body.

To illustrate our invention, several embodiments thereof will be briefly described, but it should be clearly understood that the inventive thought is not tq be limited by these examples except as specifically so done by certain of the claims. a

Referring to the drawings:

Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive represent our invention as a tubular ody, Fig. 1 showing vertical sections of the cast ingots for forming body elements; Fig. 2 showing these ingots, pierced and enlarged; Fig. 3 showing portlons of these body elements joined by means of cast material and Fig. 4 re resenting the finished tubular body after it as been mechanically Figs. 5 to 10 inclusive, are to illustrate a different mode of building a large tubular bod Fig. 5 showing a plan view of several flat ody elements positioned relative to each other and joined y cast material; Fig. 6- showing a cross section through line VI-VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 giving a cross sectional view of the plate with upset edges, prepared from the blank 0 the preceding figures; Fig. 8 giving a plan view of the same body ;-Fig. 9 presenting a cross sectional view of the body of Fig. 8, bent so that the upset ends are adjacent to each other, and joined by material cast therebetween; and Fig. 10 showing a.

plied to the production of a large cross sectional view of this body taken through the cast joint when worked to finished form.

Figs. 11 and 12show, respectivel a cross section and a longitudinal view 0 a cylindrical blank made up of curved body elements joined by material cast therebetween, prior to the final reduction.

Fig. 13 shows a longitudinal section of a blank indicating the application of our invention to the joining of heads to a shell in the formation of a boiler drum.

Figs. 14 and 15 represent respectively, a perspective view of a forged T and a cross 1 sectional view of the blank before the final forging, showing the separate elements of the T joined by the cast material.

Figs. 16 and 17 represent our invention applied to the oining of beams, Fig. 16 showing two beams positioned end to end, preliminary to joiningjand Fig. 17 showing the beams joined by metalcast therebetween, preliminary to the ultimate mechanical working.

Fig. 18 represents a joint between two body elements, indicating that there is more or less interpenetration of the cast metal and that of the adjacent portions of the united elements.

First describing the invention as illus trated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive: In constructing the tubular body 7 shown in Fig. 4, the ingots 1 and 1 are first cast, having a combined weight of say 500 tons after the to and bottom discards 2 and 2" have been ma e, to eliminate the defective material. The ingots are blocked to flatten the ends and are then pierced.

Next the pierced ingots are press forged on an enlarging bar to increase their dimensio'nsincluding the diameter of the opening. The treatment thus far of each ingot is substantially the same as in present practice.

Following this, the resulting bodies 3 and 3', having the openings 4 and 4, are hot worked, as by forging on a mandrel, to reduce the material and lengthen to a substantial deee but less than is desired for the finished ody.

positioned end to end adjacent to each other and joined by casting material of substantially the same composition as that of the'body elementstherebetween. This may be effectively done by means of the ordinary thermite casting. The joint 6 produced as a result of this step should be thicker than the walls of the body elements, portions 6' overlapping the adjacent regions of the body elements. The blank thus produced is then subjected to a forging operation by ordinary practice, reducing the entire mass of' the blank, including the joint 6 to form the finished body 7 indicated in Fig. 4.

As a result of, this final working and reduction the material of the body is substantially The resulting body elements 5 and 5 are which the joints receive is during the final step gardless of how-it is less flat structure The resulting blank is further treated to make I as our actual invention this plate 11 are now whereas the body elements have already been subjected to a working and partial reduction in a preceding step. This mode of rocedure promotes the effective elimination o the joint as such and produces a substantially uniform structure of the metal.

Obviously more than two body elements may be involved and they may be of substantially different sizes than here specified. Advantageously, for many purposes much smaller ingots may be cast, using a correspondingly greater number thereof.

In Figs. 5 to 10 inclusive, we show how our invention maybe utilized in two different ways in the manufacture of a large tubular body. First, a'plurality of body elements are joined and worked 'in accordance with theprinciples of our invention to form a more or this is curved to tubular shape, and then the principles of our invention are again applied in joining the ad jacent edges, and in working the joint to produce the finished body.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a plurality of 'plate like elements 9, which have been previously worked are positioned adjacent each other and joined by casting, as indicated at 10 to form a large sheet. As in the preceding embodiment of our invention, the joints are provided with the overlapping portions 10. now worked, as by forging or rolling so as,to reduce the material of the entire mass thereof, whereby the joints are eliminated as in the preceding example and a flat body 11 is produced, the material of which is substantially uniform throughout. I While, for the purpose of illustrating our invention, this fiat body, thus produced is a tubular body, it is obvious that this kind of body may have other utilities. It may be altered in shape as will shortly be indicated, or it may be used unchanged, as a flat, plate-like body. So far broadly is concerned, be a finished body, resubsequently utilized. Returning to our illustration, the sides of upset as indicated at 12. Next this sheet 11 isbent to tubular. form, the upset portions'12 being brought adjacent to each other and joined by .a thermitic casting as indicated at 13, the cast material of the joint overlapping, as indicated alj 13., the adjacent portions of body 11.

it maybe considered to ical working, as forging,

,rial are simultaneously The resulting blank is subjected to mechanenlarged portions 12 of body 11, until the at the joint and tile material thereof has been reduced to tha same degree as the, remaining portions of body 11.

In thus joining the two portions of body 11, it will be noted that the principle of the 1 that the metal of portions and the cast mateworked so as to practically eliminate the 'oint as such. In this case, as in the pre ing e'xahrples, the assembled materials are simultaneouslvworked and reduced to make them substantially uni form both in structure and in properties.

A variation of-the process just described is illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12. Instead of joining a plurality of worked sheets and then bending the resulting product as shown in Figs. 5 to 10, in this variation a series of body elements 14 in the formof curved heavy plates or slabs are positioned relative\ to each other .as indicated in these figures. They are then joined by casting as in thepreceding examples, here as there, the cast joints 1-5 being provided withthe overlapping bead 15. The entire structure-is then forged, or mechanically worked in any other way, to reduce both the plates and the joints to produce a uniform invention is employed in both the joined throughout the body.

The method of unlon-of two parts such as is indlcated in Fig. 10 may be utilized to Join two previously formed-elements. Here this mode of procedure is applied to the fasthe. shell 17, preferably prepared in accordance with the methods of preceding examples, is provided with thickened or upset portions 18. Shells 19 provided with correspondingly thickened portions 20 are disposed at the ends of shell 17 the thickened portions of these bodies being adjacent to each other. They are then joined by thermitically castingmetal same composition as that of the united elements to form joints 21,1having portions. 21' partially overlapping the thickened portions 18 and 20. The oints are now forged to reduce'both the cast material and that of the thickened portions of the body elements. Thus is produced a boiler drum having heads integral with the restof the shell,'virtually a one-piecebody.

The examples already given have been primarily directed to the solution of the problem of great size in worked bodies. The method however is equally applicable to the condition of material I 'tening of heads to boiler drums. The m'ethof substantially the which enormous pressure would be necessary convenience of casting parts of such a body in order to force the material into all portions of properly shaped dies. By means of our invention it is possible to utilize the and then so joinin such parts as to get the advantages of wor ed structure.

Referring to Fig. 15, separate body elements 22 and 23 are cast, element 22 being provided with the concave depressions 22'.

These elements are referably mechanically worked to reduce til but to a size less than that desired in the finished body. Elements 23 are then placed adjacent element 22 and material of substantially the same composition thermitically cast to form the joint 24. The resulting blank is then forged to reduce the material of both the joints and body elements so as to produce the finished body, substantially uniform throughout.

More or less finished structural elements, as beams, girders and the like may be united, utilizing the principles of our invention. In Figs. 16*and 17, we show the uniting of beams 25 and 25. As in the methods shown in Figs. 10 12 nd 14, the adjacent parts of the mem ers o be'joined are rovided with the thickened portions 27. 4 etal is then cast at 26 to oin the members, there being the overlapping portions 26. The joint thus produced is mechanically worked as in the preceding examples to produce a uniform condition of the material, the joint being partially eliminated. While we have here illustrated the union of two beams which are in a finished or nearly finished state, it is obvious that the body elements might have been joined when they were at a stage much less finished than that. shown.

' -For example, real advantages would accrue from joinin bloom blanks, by the method just outline and then working the entire structure thus resulting to fashion the finished product.

In oining the body elements, in any application of our invention, the metal cast between them. should be highly heated in order that a sound casting be produced, homogeneous and thoroughly united to the metal of the adjacent portions of the body elements. This may be advantageously done, as already indicated, by utilization of the aluminothermic type of reaction. view of the fact that casting operations involving the use of this reaction are so well known, details will not be presented here.

em to a certain extent elements.

While the composition of the steel, or

other metal, cast between the body elements to join them will usually be as closely as I possible like that of the elements themselves, obviously for some purposes it may be desirable to alter it somewhat, in some cases to a substantial degree even.

Then too, while the composition of the different body elements will usually bethe same, it is within the s irit of our invention to vary them apprecia ly.

It is desired to clearly difierentiate between our invention and the processes involved in making composite metal structures. The purposes of those processes are different from those of this invention. There, as above indicated, it is desired to obtain a composite material having the com bined attributes of the-several com onents. Here, the object is to build up a arge or complicated structure by means of several Whether or not these several elements have the same composition or not the significant relationship between them is spatial, and not as component parts of one material, as in the composite metal art.

The essential feature of our invention is that the ultimate body or object is made by assembling several body elements, joining them, as by depositing metal between them, and then so working the blank as to produce a body, the material of which will have the physical characteristics of worked structure have been eliminated. By this it is not meant that the original joints might not be determinable, as for example by metalligrophic observation, but it is intended to mean that for all essential and practical purposes the material of the joints has been rought into the same condition as that of the remaining portions of the body.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. .A process for forming a worked metallic body, comprising the steps of positioning a plurality of metal body elements adjacent to each other, casting metalbetween the adjacent portions thereof to join them and thereby form a blank of approximately the (desired form oi the gnished body, and then mechanicallyfworking the entire blank including the metal of the joints.

2. A process for forming a worked metalmetal and in which the joints as a distinct the same composition as the bodies, between the'adjacent portions thereof to unite them and thereby form a blank of approximately the desired form of the finished body, and

then mechanically working the entire blank including the metal of the joints.

3. A process for forming a worked steel body, comprising positioning a plurality of metal body elements adjacent to each other, these bodies having approximately the same composition, casting metal by a thermite reaction between the adjacent portions thereof to join them and thereby form a blank of approximately the desired form of the finished body, and then forging the blank including the joints to finished form.

4. A process for forming a worked, metallic .body, comprising the steps of forming a plurality of metallic body elements, mechanically working these body elements to reduce them to a .degree less than that desired in the finished structure, positioning them adjacent to each other, casting metal between the adjacent portions thereof to join them and thereby form a blank of approximately the desired form'ofthe finished body, and then mechanically working the entire blank including the joints to finished form.

5. A process for forming a worked, metal body, comprising the steps of positioning a plurality of metal body elements of approximately the same composition, adjacent to each other, casting metal of approximately the same composition as the bodies between the adjacent portions thereof to unite them to form a blank of, approximately the same form as that of the finished structure, such cast joints being of greater thickness than the body elements, and then reducing the entire material of the blanks to form the finished structure.

6. A process for forming a worked, metallic body, comprising the steps of mechanically working a plurality of metal body elements to reduce them, the body elements having approximately the same composition, positioning them adjacent to each other, casting metal of approximately the same composition as the body elements between adjacent portions thereof to unite them, the cast .joints beingof greater thickness than the cally working the joint and adjacent portions to reduce to the desired size.

8. A process of forming seamless, tubular, steel bodies, comprising the steps of casting ingots of metal of approximately the same composition, piercing these ingots, mechanically Working to form tubular blanks, positioningthe blanks end to end, adjacent to each other, casting steel of the same composition between adjacent blanks to ,join

.them, the cast joints being thicker than the adjoining material of the blanks, and. then mechanically working the tubular body throughout its mass to reduce it to the desired dimensions.

9. A process of forming seamless, tubular, bodies, comprising the steps of casting ingots of approximately the same composition,

piercing these ingots, forging to form tubular blanks, positioning the blanks end to end adjacent to each other, casting by means of a thermite reaction, metal of approximately the same composition between adjacent blanks to join them, the cast joints being thicker than the adjacent material of the blanks, and then forging the body thus produced throughout its mass and reducing to the desired dimensions.

10. A process of forming a metallic body, comprising the steps of mechanically work ing a plurality of metal body elements to reduce them, positioning them adjacent to each other in substantially the same relation to each other that they are to have in the finished body, joining them to form a blank of approximately the form of the finished body, and mechanically working the blank-to reduce the material thereof, the material of the joint and -adjacent v portions of the bodies being reduced to a greater degree than the remaining portions.

In testimony whereof we hereunto afiix our.

signatures. v

ROY A. LEWIS. JOHN M. SYLVESTER.

thentwo bodiesto join them, and mechani- 

